Aug 4 - What You've Been Waiting For - Finished!

"Toes Up" Original oil on linen, 9 x 12 $475
There he is, all comfy and totally zonked out. Even the whiskers are in (enlarge it to eight inches to see), and the hierarchy of edges is in place. I didn't detail out the links on the collar, and I kept those values lower. Unlike the details around the mouth and eye, because that's where I want the muzzle to be more important. The pure circle-shape of the collar ring could have been a huge eye-catcher, so again lowering the value helped there. Squint your eyes and see how it melts into the background!

Now look at that rightmost hind foot and how it "reads right" as a gray blue mid value. Even though you saw it earlier and saw the contrast between it and the front paws--can you see why having both back feet lower in value keeps you in the painting? Values are SO important in design. Knowing where to put them to create the composition is a very left-brain thing (although after a couple thousand paintings it can become right-brain intuitive).

News around here...the last couple days have seen a crew on Two Trees clearing the fire breaks for another long season where we worry about wildland fires. Being inside the Preserve means keeping all loose brush/leaves/pine needles bagged up and away. But this year's clearing required heavy equipment and hand laborers. Here's a picture of our blooming bougainvillea on the back fence, now bisecting a nicely cleared area. All that tan stuff on the far mountain is fuel in the form of dry grass. But we're inside a cleared ring around our place. Rain? What's that?

My demo for Ukiah is coming up on August 13, and then the workshop in Sebastopol, ending with a second demonstration on August 20 there. I'm thinking about what I need to take with me for these exciting events!

You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2009 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.

Aug 3 - Pulling in the Details, Dog Oil Painting Lesson

Now that the canvas is covered with all the inherent values and inherent colors of the composition, the FUN begins! This is where the one inch brush is set aside, and the 1/3 or 1/2 inch filbert comes out and starts to dance.

By turning the edge of the brush and changing the shape of the line, I can make a mark that is either thick or thin, depending upon the need. That's how the darks on the muzzle of the dog went in.

I'm literally dancing around the canvas (and please, no video cameras!) while this is being done. I fill the brush with the color I need and then put it in all the places it needs to go. For example, the tan color (done with yellow ochre in the shadows and burnt sienna/cad orange in the lights) is placed in several areas if I've mixed up a batch of that useful hue.

I hope this series of lessons has been useful to you. Comments to the posting wherever you see it is always appreciated, as that way I know you're "out there". And if you have questions, I can also answer them with a reply, providing a permanent place for people to learn. Thanks for doing that.

And just for kicks and giggles, here's a picture of the three studio dogs. Onslow, who is having his portrait done above, on the left. Q or the LBD at age NINETEEN is in the middle, and Sparky the wonder companion is on the right. I think the old girl's doing pretty well for being that old, even tho' totally deaf. She's a German Pinscher, about 30 pounds. All have shiny coats, probably due to what I feed 'em.

My workshop schedule for 2009 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.

Aug 2 - Dog Painting Taking Shape Now!

As I continue to paint in the large shapes of the upside down sleeping terrier, I am very aware of the values of each of those big shapes. Notice the difference between the left front paw (in light) and the same white rear paw (in shadow). Values matter!

One subscriber asked, "How can you be sure to get accuracy without a drawing in place?" Good question! As I paint, I am judging the relationships among the various shapes. I learned from Richard Schmid while he painted a portrait from a live model in Scottsdale, that he is always doing comparisons from a known measurement. Sometimes he says it is the space between the eyes, or the diameter of one of the lenses of the wearer's glasses. For me, in this painting, I am measuring the height and length of the dog, and imaginary horizontal and vertical lines across the composition. For example, I'll imagine a line going across the tip of the leftmost paw, and then see where it intersects the other paws in the source material. I'll place the paws (as I did with the hind feet in relation to that left paw) either above or below that horizontal. This is a basic drawing skill, and one that can be learned with a good class in drawing.

For me, accuracy isn't so much about duplicating the source material, as it is about getting the "feel" of the animal and what it is doing. If it is only accuracy, then a photograph with today's modern digital tools would be "good enough". I'm an artist first.

Did you enjoy Frank's illustrations from yesterday? I hadn't seen the one with the Joker. Heath Ledger would be proud!

You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2009 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.